RCCL/Celebrity questions

[pjgavaghan]

We are loyal Celebrity cruisers and have sailed with them over 18 times. Because we seemed to have done everyone of their ships/itenieries we would like to try something different. We figured that since RCCL owns Celebrity their brand should be similar.

 

Here is our situation:

 

We have booked a cruise on the Explorer out of Bayonne. We will be travelling with our son and his fiancee.

 

We are ELITE members of Celebrity's Captains Club and were granted Diamond Club status in RCCL's Crown and Anchor Club.

 

What perks do Diamond CLub members have?

Can my son also come with us to any C&A events?

Will we be happy with RCCL?

Any big differences between RCCL and Celebrity

 

Thank you in advance for all of your help

[steponboard]

Celebrity is more upscale and an older crowd then RCL but not an older crowd. There are fewer children on Celebrity. The food on X is better and the service is comparable. There is much less high energy activities on X. After 18 cruises with X I personally believe RCL would not compare favorably. I believe Princess is more like X then RCL.

[rollie]

If you booked a balcony cabin you are entitled to a balcony discount. Only family members stay in your cabin can go to diamond events. Unless Celebrity has changed their menus in the last couple of years, I feel Celebrity now has a much better menu. Entertainment may be better on RCCL. To me Celebrity has more of a white glove feel to it. By the way, we switched to RCCL for the same reason as you.

 

Rollie

[The Big Booper]

There will a lot more energy and activities on the Explorer; we have been on it thrice from Bayonne; also been on the Connie once from Bayonne. To be honest we were bored on the 9 night Connie after 5 days and we are/were in our 60's. How many times can you go to Perry Grant in Michaels, and there was nothing else doing after dinner and the main show. Different vibe on the two lines.

 

Much more to do and watch on the Ex such as the two parades, the two different professional ice skating shows, The Quest and Love and Marriage games, etc. And if you are foodies and wan't a higher level of food, just book Portofino. A couple on our last two Ex cruises went to Portofino (upscale upcharge continental restaurant) every night.

 

X is more white glove service in the MDR but the cabin service depends on who your steward is.

 

The younger people will certainly find more to do on The Ex then Celebrity.

[The Big Booper]

One more question, are you diamond or diamond plus after trf your X status? D+ gets the concierge lounge every night with free booze, for 3 hours. D gets you the D lounge with free wine and champaign.

[pjgavaghan]

We were told we would be diamond.

 

It looks as though there is no direct transfer to Diamond Plus

 

Elite = Diamond

[Miss Vickie]

We are loyal Celebrity cruisers and have sailed with them over 18 times. Because we seemed to have done everyone of their ships/itenieries we would like to try something different. We figured that since RCCL owns Celebrity their brand should be similar.

 

Here is our situation:

 

We have booked a cruise on the Explorer out of Bayonne. We will be travelling with our son and his fiancee.

 

We are ELITE members of Celebrity's Captains Club and were granted Diamond Club status in RCCL's Crown and Anchor Club.

 

What perks do Diamond CLub members have?

Can my son also come with us to any C&A events?

Will we be happy with RCCL?

Any big differences between RCCL and Celebrity

 

Thank you in advance for all of your help

 

We're normally RCCL cruisers, and chose to cruise X Summit last year, primarily for itinerary. We love the Radiance class, have never cruised anything larger, and the M class is is the comparable class with X. X has no comparable class with the Voyager class.

 

We loved our X itinerary, but in general did not care for the Celebrity experience. We're D C&A members, got Elite on X. At the time, C&A benefits were better than Captain's Club, but that has changed significantly since we cruised.

 

We found about the same age range on both ships, but more energy (and we're not partiers) on RCCL. Did not see a significant difference in food, and feel that the service is better on Serenade, our favorite ship.

 

Hard to say if you'll be happy with RCCL; if Explorer isn't for you, you may want to try Serenade, which will give you an experience closer to X (fewer kids, and it's a gorgeous ship, lots of glass). It has really great Southern Carib itineraries.

[138east]

Which Explorer itinerary are you doing? I've done both the Bermuda and the 12 day Caribbean and found them to be very different because of the length.

[pjgavaghan]

Which Explorer itinerary are you doing? I've done both the Bermuda and the 12 day Caribbean and found them to be very different because of the length.

 

 

We are going on a 9 day Bermuda/Eastern Caribean itinerary (9days)

[138east]

On a 9 day cruise with 4 1/2 sea days you will have plenty of time to relax and enjoy the ship - the Royal Promenade, the ice skating shows, ice skating, mini golf, rock climbing, fitness center (hot tub, sauna, and steam room), and basketball. Even if you do not participate in all these activities, it can be fun to be a spectator. We were originally X cruisers and switched to RCL when X stopped doing 7 day cruises out of San Juan and we were not disappointed.

 

We enjoy the food and the whole dining experience. On a longer cruise, some dinner menus are better than others. We really like to avoid the WJ and eat as many breakfasts and lunches in the MDR as we can. The food seems fresher, particularly at breakfast. At lunch in the MDR they will prepare you a wonderful salad with exactly what you want in it. If you are a diamond, they allow you to take your food into Portofino's from the WJ, which is a nice perk.

 

We also found that there was a much broader age range of guests plus a lot of Canadians and Europeans (primarily from the UK) and Americans who live 1-10 hours from NJ. I thought it might be more of a NY metropolitan crowd, but have not found that to be the case.

[pjgavaghan]

Thank you for all of your help.

 

We have booked the Explorer of the Seas out of Bayonne.

 

I think that because of our ages DW and Myself (57 57), Son and his Fiancee (25 25) we will enjoy this cruise better than Celebrity.

 

We will make sure we take advantage of our Elite/Diamond benefits

 

Thanks again